Manufacturing Update 10

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull phoned president Francois Hollande last night to congratulate France on winning the contract to build Australia’s next fleet of submarines, according to reports.

Last week it was reported that a defence committee (headed by Rear Admiral Greg Sammut) overseeing the “competitive evaluation process” had judged the proposal by France as the strongest, followed by Germany and Japan.

France’s DCNS would build a conventionally-powered version of its Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A submarine, using pump jet propulsion.

DCNS was announced as the winning bidder by Turnbull, who visited Adelaide's Osborne shipyard this morning.

He claimed that 2,800 local jobs would be created in Australia through the project. "Australian built, Australian jobs, Australian steel, here right where we stand," the ABC reports him as saying.

Bosch inaugurated its new $40 million Australian headquarters and technology centre last night and announced it would invest another $6.2 million to strengthen its diode production.

The wholly-owned local subsidiary of the German engineering giant was established in Australia in 1954 and described the facility as evidence of its long-term commitment to the region. Around 800 are employed at the Clayton site.

One hundred per cent of the diodes for the auto industry made at Clayton are exported. Around 200 engineers work at the Clayton facility for automotive projects.

“Australia is an important location for the Bosch Group,” Peter Tyroller, member of the board of management of the Bosch Group responsible for Asia Pacific, said in a statement.

“We have seen a positive development of our business in 2015 and we are confident of the market’s long-term prospects.”

A group of taxi drivers claim there are potential problems with the power steering assistance in Holden Caprices.

The ABC reportsthat some drivers have complained as many as 500 cars are affected, with one – who claims the problem affected 50 of his friends in a 100-car group – telling AM that he’s had 25 such failures while driving.

It involves a loss of electric power steering assistance. “They're just saying that it's a loose connection,” Daljeet Singh said, adding that he felt freeway driving was like a "suicide mission".

Holden said that it had proactively contacted customers after in issue was identified in 2014, offering to have cars that may potentially carry the fault inspected.

Indonesia’s ranking among manufacturing nations has risen, according to United Nations statistics released yesterday.

The Jakarta Post reports that the UN Industrial Development Organization’s International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics puts Indonesia’s manufacturing sector as a quarter of GDP. The figures consider manufacturing value added.

A spokesperson for UNIDO explained Indonesia’s increase in rankings, passing England and Canada, through its ability to keep factories open during a global downturn.

Indonesia’s overall economy had also been stable compared to its region, with an inflation rate of 4.5 per cent, and seen 25 million people move out of poverty. GDP grew at around 4.7 per cent in 2015.

The WSJ also reports that Indonesia is likely to see increased competitiveness from its neighbours, such as Vietnam, for foreign investment. More transnational firms are looking to locate parts of their supply chains in the region.

HunterNet, a broad-ranging collection of firms in the Hunter region, has said that collaborations with Chinese businesses and universities are worth pursuing.

ABC Rural reports that Wayne Diemar, a project manager at the coalition of around 200 businesses – including manufacturing, mining and renewable energy sectors – has said many Chinese businesses were happy to engage with Australian expertise.

"[Chinese companies] understand they can't do everything themselves." There had been benefits in cooperating with Chinese companies in the area of mining equipment technology and services, a well-known area of strength for the Hunter and the country.

"The Chinese want that specialty, and they're happy to help and work with companies in our region to develop it further,” he said.